When professional basketball player and six-time All-Star Amar’e Stoudemire and his wife, Alexis, began to search for a new house in South Florida, it wasn’t style or even exact location that was their top priority. It was more about size, which is not surprising for a man who at six-foot-ten dwarfs most people, furniture and, most importantly, spaces.

“We just wanted a nice family-style home with no stairs,” says Alexis, “basically a sanctuary for us to get away from everything.” They found that in a 12,000-square-foot house in Southwest Ranches, 15 miles outside of Ft. Lauderdale. Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson is a neighbor. But what appealed most to Amar’e: The sky-high, ten-foot doorways; expansive wall spaces; and palatial, ultra-high ceilings.

The kids have their own wing of the house—with purple and yellow and black rooms for their daughters—and Halprin says Amar’e was teary-eyed when he saw it. “That’s my chance to see if I can make the athlete cry,” she jokes of her decked-out kids’ rooms.

Kris Tamburello

Alexis, who Amar’e freely admits is a much better interior designer than he is, appreciates the way Halprin infused color throughout the house, balancing masculine and feminine shades with neutrals and golden transitions.

Kris Tamburello

Another important attribute: efficiency. They didn’t want to renovate but rather move themselves and their four kids in quickly. From what was available, they decided upon their favorite turnkey option. Still, there was work to be done to turn the house into a home. With a referral from Kobe Bryant’s wife, Vanessa, they found the perfect person for the job: Lori Halprin, who is accustomed to working with athletes who want near-instant gratification despite needing to order almost all custom furniture because of their typically extra-large sizes. “I understand their lifestyle and know what they’re looking for,” says Halprin, the proprietor of Envision Fine Furnishings, who makes all her furniture custom in Los Angeles. “Often it’s the first time they’ve fit in a bed they didn’t dangle off, or sit in a sofa that actually accommodated their tall frame. I know how to make it comfortable for the rest of the family, too.”

Her services include everything, from pots and pans and sheets to case goods by Caracole and 48-inch-deep sofas (10 inches bigger than normal, and larger than a twin bed). “We wanted Amar’e to be able to sit in every single piece of furniture in the whole house,” says Alexis, “but we didn’t want it to be over the top and too big where everyone else looks small.” In the dining room, the host and hostess chairs are enlarged, but Halprin added a pillow so it won't feel too oversized for Alexis. She also ensured Amar’e’s most prized items—their wedding photos—were hung perfectly, along with art Halprin purchased at North Carolina’s High Point Market and his basketball memorabilia.

My chin dropped all the way to my Nikes—I had to pick it back up. It was an amazing feeling: We’re home.

With four children (aged 12, 10, 9, and 4), kid-friendliness was a big concern to Alexis, who wanted every surface to be durable and easily washed or wiped down. Her husband simply wished for the spacious place to feel comfortable, “like the home you grew up in,” says Amar’e, who, in a nod to his Hebrew Israelite roots and adopted homeland, recently left the NBA to play forward for Israel’s Haporeal Jerusalem team, of which he’s part owner. “So we chose colors that are warm to us and furniture that was comfortable for everyone to enjoy a nice movie, relax on the couch, or sit and smoke a cigar and watch the kids swim in the pool.”

Inside Amar'e and Alexis Stoudemire’s House in Southwest Florida

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Amar’e, a self-avowed art lover who launched The Melech Collection—a platform to educate those in the sports and pop culture arenas to emerging artists and contemporary art—has really embraced curating the works that hang around their home. He commissioned pieces and has more in storage that vary from street art to Pop Art to European.

Less than one month after flying out from Los Angeles to meet the couple and make a game plan for color palette and budget, Halprin returned with her team. Because everyone was clear from the beginning about the vision, the couple says there were no surprises, issues, or arguments during the process. “The only bone of contention was about the wall coverings, because they thought they were spending a lot of money on wallpaper—there are about 700 rolls in the house, but I said it makes a big difference, and they went with it and love it,” says Halprin, who used some by York Wallcoverings on ceilings and in other unexpected places.

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The baller’s reaction when they walked in their massive front door: “My jaw touched the ground,” he says. “My chin dropped all the way to my Nikes—I had to pick it back up. It was an amazing feeling: We’re home.”

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